Taiwan, Cheenae

This article is aboot the term "Taiwan, Cheenae". For the state commonly kent as "Taiwan", see Taiwan. For the Taiwan Province govrened bi the Republic o Cheenae, see Taiwan Province. For the hypothetical Taiwan Province claimit but no govrened bi the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae, see Taiwan Province, Fowkrepublic o Cheenae.

"Taiwan, Cheenae" or "Taiwan, Province o Cheenae" is a set o poleetically controversial an potentially ambiguous terms that characterise Taiwan an its associatit territories as a province or territory o "Cheenae". Housomeibver, the term is problematic an potentially ambiguous acause syne 1949, twa sovereign states wi the name "Cheenae" exist, namely the Republic o Cheenae (ROC, foondit 1911 an nou commonly kent as "Taiwan") an the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae (PRC, foondit 1949 an commonly kent as "Cheenae" syne 1971). Housomeibver, anerlie ane "Cheenae" actually rules Taiwan, namely Republic o Cheenae, an haes an admeenistrative diveesion cried "Taiwan Province" but refers tae it as "Taiwan Province, Republic o Cheenae"; whareas, the ither "Cheenae", namely the Fowkrepublic o Cheenae, which is the ane internaitionally recognisit as "Cheenae" (no the ROC), claims but does no control Taiwan as pairt o its territory. Acause "Taiwan" an "China" are kent internaitionally tae be separately poleetical entities, the juxtaposition o "Taiwan" an "Cheenae" in this order intae ane single term "Taiwan, Cheenae" implicitly places the ROC/"Taiwan" unner the sovereignty o PRC/"Cheenae", in the same sense as "Californie, USA". The uise o this term is uisually poleetically promulgatit bi the Communist Cheenese govrenment as a wey tae claim an imply that the ROC/"Taiwan" is unner its sovereignty, syne the PRC claims tae be the legitimate govrenment o "aw Cheenae", which, accordin tae its awn definition, includes Taiwan an aw, despite its lack o control. The ROC govrenment disputes the PRC position an it, alang wi mony ROC citizens, considers this term incorrect an affensive, an its uise a purposeful false identification an lee which denies the ROC's sovereignty, an objects tae its uise.[1] The term is pairticularly affensive tae those Taiwanese who believe in Taiwan unthirldom an want tae disassociate Taiwan wi "Cheenae" an a Cheenese identity, an consider it a lee an an oxymoron. Housomeivver, some Taiwanese citizens dae no necessarily oppose this term, pairticularly those who view thairsels as "Cheenese" an support eventual Cheenese reunification.

The dispute an ambiguity ower the meanin o "Cheenae" an which "Cheenae" stemmit frae the diveesion o Republic o Cheenae intae twa Cheenaes at the "end" o the Cheenese Ceevil War in 1949.[2] The term "Cheenae" historically meant the various regimes an imperial dynasties which controlled territories in mainland Asie prior tae 1911, when the imperial seestem wis which owerthrown an the Republic o Cheenae (ROC) wis established as the first republic in Asie. In 1927 the Cheenese Ceevil War stairtit atween the Kuomintang (KMT, foondin pairty o the ROC) an the Communist Pairty o Cheenae, a rebel force at the time. The Cheenese Communists eventually wan control o maist o ROC's territory (mainland Cheenae) in 1949, when they proclaimit the "Fowkrepublic o Cheenae" on that territory. Syne then, twa Cheenaes existed, although the PRC wis no internationally recognisit at the time. The Republic o Cheenae govrenment, who receivit Taiwan in 1945 frae Japan then fled tae Taiwan wi the aim tae retak mainlaund Cheenae an retained the name "Republic o Cheenae". Baith the ROC an the PRC still offeecially (constitutionally) claim mainland Cheenae an the Taiwan Aurie as pairt o their respective territories. In reality, the PRC rules anerlie Mainland Cheenae an haes nae control o but claims Taiwan as pairt o its territory unner its "Ane Cheenae Principle". The ROC, which anerlie rules the Taiwan Aurie (composed o Taiwan an its nearbi minor islands), became kent as "Taiwan" efter its lairgest island, (an instance o pars pro toto). It stopped offeecial active claim o mainland Cheenae as pairt o its territory efter constitutional reforms in 1991.[3]

The PRC, in 1971, subsequently wan the Unitit Naitions seat as "Cheenae" an uise o the name an expelled the ROC frae the UN. Syne then the term "Taiwan, Cheenae" is a designation typically uised in internaitional organisations like the Unitit Naitions an its associatit organs unner pressur frae the PRC tae accommodate its claim an tae give the false impression that Taiwan belangs tae the PRC. (The term "Cheenese Taipei" wis similarly creatit for the same purpose.) Housomeivver, tae whom Taiwan actually belangs is a complex issue an is currently unresolvit, in lairge pairt due tae the Unitit States an the Allies o Warld War II handlin o the surrender o Taiwan (then cried "Formosa") frae Japan in 1945, which wis a temporary custodianship bi the ROC truips unner General Order No. 1, an the Treaty o Peace wi Japan ("Treaty o San Francisco") in 1951, for which neither the ROC nor the PRC wis invitit, an left Taiwan's sovereignty legally undefined in internaitional law an in dispute.

The term "Taiwan, (Province of) China" is also potentially ambiguous because both the ROC and the PRC each has administratively a "Taiwan Province", Taiwan Province, Republic of China and "Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China", and neither of these provinces covers the Matsu Islands, Wuchiu, Kinmen, the Pratas Islands and Itu Aba, all of which have been retained by the Republic of China. Geographically speaking, they both refer to the same place. The existence of the extra term "Taiwan Province, PRC" is merely because of PRC's insistence that Taiwan is part of China. Without more specific indication, it is unclear to which "Taiwan Province" is being referred. However, since China (PRC) doesn't actually control Taiwan and its "Taiwan Province" exists only on paper, as a practical matter, "Taiwan Province" refers only to the Taiwan Province under Republic of China's administration.

Although the word "China" could also possibly be interpreted to mean "Republic of China", this interpretation is no longer common since "China" is typically understood as referring to the PRC after the ROC lost its UN seat as "China" in 1971, and a term distinct from "Taiwan", the name with which the ROC has become identified. Also, only the ROC's Taiwan Province exists in reality and is under the ROC's actual territorial control, whereas the PRC's "Taiwan Province" exists only on paper, on the PRC's official administrative documents and under its government administrative structure but without an actual provincial government. Instead, the PRC has a Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council to deal with issues and policy guidelines relating to Taiwan.

The ROC also does not refer to its Taiwan Province as "Taiwan, China" but rather as "Taiwan Province, Republic of China" (中華民國台灣省), and typically such reference only occurs in the Chinese language. However, reference to the province is now rare since the Taiwan provincial government has largely been dissolved and its functions transferred to the central government or county governments since 1997. Therefore recent uses of the term "Taiwan, China" are usually promulgated by the PRC to convey the sense that Taiwan is part of its "China".

Although the Republic of China is not a member of the United Nations, the term "Taiwan, China" has sometimes been used by the U.N. to refer to the Republic of China.[4] (The ROC is prohibited from using its official name internationally under pressure from the PRC and uses "Chinese Taipei" in other organizations.) The ROC sees its use as a denial of the ROC's status as a separate sovereign state, diminishing it under "China", which implicitly is the PRC. Various instances of the use of the term by international organizations or news media have been met with protest from the Taiwanese government officials and citizens. In the latest incident on May 10, 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO), an agency of the UN, referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" in its documents. (The ROC participates in the WHO under the name "Chinese Taipei".) Republic of China's president Ma Ying-jeou protested WHO's action and accused PR China of "pressuring the UN body into calling" the ROC "Chinese territory", and stated that Beijing's moves were "very negative" for bilateral ties.[5] Ma, who took office in 2008, has taken many measures to improve Cross-Strait relations.

The confusion and fight over use of the "China" name and the lack of name recognition of "Republic of China" itself and recognition as a country are part of the reason for the supporters of Taiwan independence to push for an identity apart from "China" and for renaming the ROC and gaining international recognition as Republic of Taiwan. Some supporters also reject the legitimacy of Republic of China's takeover of Taiwan from Japan at the end of World War II since 1945 (due to the lack of transfer of sovereignty in the Treaty of Peace with Japan). They view that Taiwan is no longer part of China since "China" is recognized by the UN as being the People's Republic of China, and so placing "Taiwan" and "China" together in one term is not only incorrect and an oxymoron but also offensively demotes the ROC's national sovereign status under China and causes unnecessary confusion with PR China.

In Vietnam, although almost state media use the term "Taiwan" but most government documents and many state media[6][7] usually use the forms Đài Loan (Trung Quốc) ["Taiwan (China)"] or Đài Loan, Trung Quốc ("Taiwan, China") to refer to Taiwan or Republic of China in many contexts, including in music and entertainment coverage.[8][9][10] In other media, they often use the term "vùng lãnh thổ" ("territory")[11][12] or "hòn đảo" ("island")[13][14] to refer to Taiwan when wanting to avoid repeating the term "Taiwan" many times in their article. The term "Tỉnh Đài Loan" ("Taiwan Province")[15] sometimes appear in media to refer to all of "Taiwan Area" (not only referring to the Taiwan Province of ROC). In general, Vietnamese state media never refer to Taiwan as a "nation" or a "state".

The term "Taiwan, Province of China" also appears in the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 country codes because its information source, the publication UN Terminology Bulletin-Country Names, lists Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China" due to the PRC's political influence in the United Nations as a member of the UN Security Council.[16] Since the ISO 3166-1 code is a frequently used data source for computer programs and websites to pull a list of country names, "Taiwan, Province of China" is sometimes seen on pull-down menus instead of "Taiwan" due to this reason.